2001 Nonprofit Employment

2001 Nonprofit Employment

Nonprofit organizations contribute to the quality of life for all Indiana citizens through the health care, education, job training, nursing home care, access to arts and culture, and opportunities for democratic participation that they offer. What is not widely appreciated, however, is that nonprofit organizations are also a major force in the state’s economy, and in the economies of all the state’s regions. This report presents new information on the size, composition, and distribution of paid employment in the private nonprofit sector in Indiana for 1995, 2000, and 2001 with additional analysis by metropolitan region.

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Key Findings

  • The nonprofit sector is a major economic force in Indiana, accounting for nearly 1 out of every 13 paid workers—more than are employed in the state’s non-durable manufacturing industry, about half again as many as are employed in construction, and at about the average for many other states (see page 2).

  • The 222,000 nonprofit employees in Indiana earned about $6 billion in wages in 2001 (see page 3).

  • Nonprofit employment is not restricted to any one region of Indiana, but is distributed broadly throughout the state (see pages 4-5).

  • About half (49 percent) of nonprofit employment in the state is in health services, another 17 percent is in social services and 12 percent is in education (see page 6).

  • Most (88 percent) nonprofit employees work for charities, although only 55 percent of nonprofit employers are charities (see page 7).

  • Average weekly wages for nonprofit employees are 19 percent lower than those of for-profit workers and 18 percent lower than those of government workers (see page 7). However, nonprofit weekly wages are similar to for-profit wages in industries where nonprofit employment is concentrated (see pages 7-11).

  • The Indiana nonprofit sector grew notably faster than the forprofit or government sectors between 1995 and 2001 (see page 12).

  • Overall wages for nonprofit employees in Indiana also increased faster than those of employees in for-profit or government organizations, although average weekly wages increased by a smaller amount (see pages 13-14).

  • The growth in nonprofit employment was concentrated in health services, but rates of growth were higher for nonprofit social services and educational services (see pages 14-16).

  • Rates of growth in nonprofit employment varied significantly among Indiana metropolitan regions (see pages 16-17).